Across the Nation

President Barack Obama gestures during his meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April, 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Apr 3, 2013

Obama, in Colorado, to press for gun measures

In selecting Colorado, Obama is showcasing a state with a long centrist tradition that prizes its Western frontier heritage

National School Shield Task Force Director, former Arkansas Rep. Asa Hutchinson gestures during a news conference at National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, to discuss his groups's school-guns study. The National Rifle Association's study recommends schools across the nation each train and arm at least one staff member. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Apr 2, 2013

NRA study suggests trained, armed school staffers

"The presence of an armed security personnel in a school adds a layer of security and diminishes the response time that is beneficial to the overall security," said Asa Hutchinson, a GOP former congressman from Arkansas who directed the study.

Conn. reaches deal on tough gun laws after Newtown Apr 1, 2013

Conn. reaches deal on tough gun laws after Newtown

HARTFORD, Conn. | Connecticut lawmakers announced a deal Monday on what they called some of the toughest gun laws in the country that were proposed …

In this Jan. 24, 2013 file photo, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference with a coalition of members of Congress, mayors, law enforcement officers, gun safety organizations and other groups on Capitol Hill in Washington to introduce legislation on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devices. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation Thursday toughening laws against people who illegally buy guns for others as lawmakers cast their first votes in Congress to curb firearms since December's horrific shootings at a Connecticut elementary school. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) Mar 7, 2013

Senate panel casts year’s first votes on gun curbs

"Are we really going to pass another law that will have zero effect, then pat ourselves on the back for doing something wonderful?" said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican.

Neil Heslin, the father of a six-year-old boy who was slain in the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, holds a picture of himself with his son Jesse and wipes his eye while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Feb 27, 2013

Father of Newtown victim: Ban assault weapons

"I'm not here for the sympathy or the pat on the back," Heslin, a 50-year-old construction worker, told the senators, weeping openly during much of his hushed 11-minute testimony. "I'm here to speak up for my son."

Bill Hoover carries a photo of his grandson AJ Boik, who was killed in the July, 2012 Aurora movie theatre massacre, during a news conference at which Colorado State legislators unveiled gun control measures, at the State Capitol, in Denver, Tuesday Feb. 5, 2013. Among the proposed measures is a new bill that would hold manufacturers, sellers, and owners of assault weapons liable and responsible for damages caused by shootings with those weapons. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) Feb 27, 2013

Democratic leader wants assault weapons liability

"My first response was that I laughed out loud," said Sen. Greg Brophy, a Republican from Wray.

Feb 11, 2013

Aurora shooting victim’s family at State of Union speech

AURORA  | The mother and uncle of a teenager who was killed in the Aurora movie theater shooting are planning to attend President Barack Obama’s …

In this Jan. 30, 2013 file photo, former former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who survived a gunshot to the head in 2011, during a mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., sits ready with her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington to discuss legislation to curb gun violence after the death of 20 schoolchildren in the shooting rampage late last year in Newtown, Conn. Giffords told the committee that Congress must reform the nation's gun laws, and Kelly got into a terse discussion at the witness table with National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) Feb 11, 2013

Gun victims’ relatives emerge as advocates

Victims of tragedy long have played major roles in the nation's most dramatic public policy debates, and there are few more bitter, or expensive than this year's legislative battle over gun control

President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, gestures as he talks about proposals to reduce gun violence, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Jan 17, 2013

Obama’s gun measures face a tough road in Congress

"I will put everything I've got into this, and so will Joe," the president said. "But I tell you, the only way we can change is if the American people demand it."

In this photo made with a fisheye lens on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013, five used military style rifles are all that is available in the rack that usually has over twenty new models for sale at Duke's Sport Shop in New Castle, Pa. Store manager Mike Fiota says the few there are on consignment from individuals. President Barack Obama is expected to announce measures Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013, on a broad effort to reduce gun violence that will include proposed bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines as well as more than a dozen executive orders aimed at circumventing congressional opposition to stricter gun control. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic) Jan 16, 2013

With gun-control bills in sight, city lawmakers say they’ll wait for specific proposals before weighing in

“Who’s to say who’s mentally ill? Hoarders are mentally ill. If I’m a hoarder, I can’t have a gun?” said Councilwoman Renie Peterson